"Awards give athletes the motivation for more efforts and improvements," Salah said at his acceptance speech on behalf of the winners. “And an award that holds the name of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, is great and huge one, because its value comes from Sheikh Mohammed's great position as the pioneer innovator in all fields," the Liverpool star added. "Yesterday, I won the African Player of the Year award for the second time in a row, and today I am honored to be here to receive this prestigious award, and with a group of leading athletes and champions, including young people from different Arab countries, the award will be an incentive for them to achieve more achievements in the future," he remarked.

He thanked Sheikh Hamdan for launching the 'great award' that aims at developing sport in the UAE, the Arab world and the world. "And thank you for this appreciation and honor which means a lot to me as it comes from the UAE the country, that is close to our hearts," Salah said. "May God help you to achieve the goals of this award and support our athletes and youth," he concluded.

The event was attended by Chairman of Dubai Media Incorporated and President of Tennis Emirates H.H. Sheikh Hasher bin Maktoum; President of the UAE Padel Association Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum; Commander-in-Chief of Abu Dhabi Police and Chairman of the General Authority for Sports Major General Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithi, First Vice President of UAE Olympic Committee Humaid bin Mohammed Al Qatami, Vice Chairman of Dubai Sports Council Mattar Al Tayer, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Secretary-General of The Executive Council of Dubai Abdullah Mohammed Al Basti, Secretary General of the General Authority for Sports Saeed Abdulghafar, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council Saeed Hareb, and a number of senior officials.

The winners of other categories are:

The best local athlete:
Mohammed Ahmed Al Balushi, for winning the Motorcycling World Cup 2018

The local Administrator Award:
Nasser Abdul Razzaq Al Marzouqi, President of the UAE Karate Federation, for being elected the First Vice President of the International Federation of Karate, his position as a member of the Executive Office and Honorary President of the Arab Karate Federation. He further contributed to the spread of Karate in UAE and the Arab world as well as the introduction of Karate for the first time in Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Osama Ahmed Al Shaafar, for being elected President of the UAE and Asian Cycling Federation for the period 2017-2021, membership of the Executive Office of the International Cycling Federation, and his efforts to spread the cycling sport.

The local team Award
The UAE refereeing team in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which composed of the international referee Mohamed Abdullah Hassan and two international referees Mohammed Yousuf Al Hammadi and Hassan Mohammed Al Mahri, to participate as a refereeing team for the first time in the UAE's history in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The same refereeing team was used in the AFC Champions League Final.

The local Organization Award:
Dubai Police, for its pioneering initiative in the field of youth empowerment, which is linked to Dubai Vision 2021, and the global competitiveness indicators in the field of security through the implementation of sports and awareness activities that contributed to reducing crime rates in residential areas.

The Arab athlete Award:
Mohamed Ihab Youssef, Egypt, for winning 3 gold medals in the World Weightlifting Championship and being on top of the world ranking (weight of 77 kg in 2017). He is the first Arab to win 3 gold medals in the history of Arab participation in the World Weightlifting Championships.

The Arab administrator Award:
Dr. Mubarak Suwailm Al-Suwailem, Saudi Arabia, for his efforts in developing and unifying the supervision of air sports in Asia utilizing his position as President of the Air Sports Federation of Asia which is recognized by the Asian Olympic Council.

The Arab coach Award:
Nadia Abdelhamid Abdelhafiz, Egypt, for her contribution in coaching the Egyptian boxing team and winning 45 medals in various Arab, and international tournaments. Her most significant achievement is winning of 2 bronze medals in the 2018 World Boxing Championship.

The Arab team Award:
Egypt Men's Squash National Team, for winning the 2017 Men's World Squash Championship.

The best initiative for the International Summer Olympic International Federations:
The United World Wrestling Federation, for the Federation's unique and comprehensive methodology for organizing wrestling training programs worldwide that has benefited more than 200 athletes to qualify for the Olympic Games.

The best initiative for the International Organizations, National Paralympic Committee:
The Japanese Paralympic Committee, for its initiative to spread the Paralympic activities through inclusion of an academic program in the official curricula for special needs education. This enriches the Paralympic values and enhances the IPC aspirations to make the society more inclusive for the people with special needs through sport.

The Appreciation Categories
Local junior athlete achieved outstanding successes in sports:
6 young male and female athletes were nominated, and voting will be via Dubai Sports Channel and the Award's smart application. The voting will continue till 31/12/2018 and they will be honored at the closing ceremony on January 9, 2019 according to the final result of voting:
Balqis Abdul Karim Abdullah, for gold medal in the Junior 2017 Jujitsu World Championships.
Fatima Salem Khaseef, for gold medal in the Asian Junior Karate Championship (Individual, weight 54, 2018).
Ahmad Faisal Al Naqbi, for winning the AFC Junior Judo Championship (Weight 50, 2018).
Lamia Tariq Mal Allah, for winning the gold medal in the International Gymnastics Championships - Greece 2018, and the silver medal in Germany, 2017.
Omran Ahmed Al-Hosani, for winning the gold medal in the West Asia Classic Chess, the gold medal in the Rapid Play and the silver medal of the Blitz, 2018.
Abdullah Khalil Mansouri, for winning the gold and bronze medals in the Arab Cycling Championship, 2018.

The Arab young athlete achieved outstanding successes in sports:
The Award is won by 4 young Arab athletes:
Ahmed Osama El-Gendy, Egypt, for winning the gold medal in the Modern Pentathlon, Youth Olympic Games 2018. He is also the first player in the world to win 3 gold medals at the Youth Olympic Games and World Cup.
Mohammed Ayed Al-Asiri, Saudi Arabia, for winning the gold medal in karate at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. He is the first Arab athlete to win the gold medal in karate in the history of Arab youth participation in the Youth Olympic Games.
Fatima Al Zahra - Kingdom of Morocco, for her gold medal in the Taekwondo at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games; the first gold medal in Taekwondo in the history of Arab participations at the Youth Olympic Games.
Omar Al Marzouki - United Arab Emirates, for winning the silver medal in Equestrian (Individual, Show Jumping) at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. This is the first medal in the history of UAE's participation in the Youth Olympic Games.

Athlete accomplished an Outstanding Achievement Award:
Salih Al-Majri - Tunisia, one of the best and most successful Arab players in the history of Arab basketball. He contributed to the achievement of European titles with Real Madrid, made community contributions to serve the Arab youth, and participated in the discovery of talent and help them to play in the European leagues.

Athlete accomplished an Outstanding Achievement within difficult Challenges Award (People of Determination Category):
The Award is won by two athletes:
Abdel Nour Al-Fadini, Kingdom of Morocco, for placing second in the 7th World Paralympic Taekwondo Championship 2017.
Ahmed Mubarak Al Mutaiwee, UAE, for winning 6 gold and silver medals in Cycling in international tournament.

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